sO mAnY oF yOu HaVe GiVeN mE sOmE sUgGeStIoNs So ThAnK yOu So MuCh! I hAvE a GoOd IdEa I wAnT tO hApPeN iN cApTuRe ThE fLaG bUt I wIlL mAkE yOuR sUgGeStIoNs HaPpEn So KeEp ReViEwInG!
That afternoon, we walk down to Uriah's apartment. I walk in without knocking, the door already unlocked, and Tobias follows. Our whole group is squished up and sitting on the bed.
"Hey Trissyboo!" Zeke laughs as I reach the bed and the others say hello as well. The group shuffles around to make room but with six people already sitting on the bed, there isn't much room to be made. Tobias sits down in a spot next to Christina on the corner of the bed. I place my foot on the edge and pull myself up so that I'm standing on the bed. I step between Tobias and Christina and sit myself down in Tobias' lap. His arms wrap around my waist and my hands are on his arms.
I smile, "hey Zekeybear."
"You guys ready for tonight!" Uriah beams and a grin covers his face.
"You mean for when we beat your sorry ass?" Tobias says sternly and I can't help but laugh.
"Woah! Go Four!" Marlene laughs.
Shauna raises an eyebrow, "what's tonight?"
And Christina and I answer simultaneously, "capture the flag."
All night we stayed in Uriah's apartment, talking and laughing. Around dinnertime, the boys went to the dining hall and brought back dinner and Dauntless Cake. We were thankful, of course. We continued talking. Nothing especially interesting came up but we had fun.
I get up from the bed. By now, I take up the most space and honestly don't know how that happened. I leave the apartment and check outside; it's dark. Walking back inside, I check the time; twenty minutes to twelve.
"Ready guys?" I grin and they nod.
We make our way silently to the transfers' dorm first. Shauna, Zeke, Will, Marlene and, of course, Uriah, Christina, Tobias and I are all outside the door to their dorm. We all carry flashlights and have cheeky grins covering our faces. Tobias is at the front, followed by Uriah, then Christina and I and then the rest. He holds up three fingers. Then two. Then one.
Tobias opens the door and we all stream in, turning our flashlights on in the process.
"GET UP! EVERYONE OUT OF BED!" Tobias' shouts fill the dorms. All the initiates sit up but don't move anywhere. It's too dark, even through the light of our flashlights, to make out their faces.
"WERE YOU LISTENING TRANSFERS?" Christina shouts menacingly.
"MOVE IT!" I add and they get up.
I shine my flashlight to each initiate. Alex and Asta are fully clothed. The only thing they will have to do is put shoes on. Sasha, however, wears a t-shirt and short-shorts; Luke wears a shirt and boxers; Laura wears a shirt and long pants; Jet slept in boxers with no shirt.
"MEET US AT THE TRACKS IN 10 MINUTES!" Tobias shouts, snapping me from my daze.
"DON'T BE LATE!" Uriah adds and we leave to head for the Dauntless-Borns' Dorms. I take one last look at their sleep-dazed faces and see the shock and confusion that consumes them. I remember my thoughts last year 'what's going on?' as I locked my eyes with Tobias'.
I leave the room and chase after Uriah and the others.
We enter their dorms screaming. The awakening is very similar to the last times although I notice the Dauntless-Born initiates sleep in mainly t-shirts and pants. A few don't, but the majority does. I look at every face as they line up in front of us to see who was factionless after the fights. Greg isn't here, it must be him.
"DAUNTLESS-BORNS, BE AT THE TRACKS IN 10 MINUTES!" Tobias shouts.
"DONT BE LATE!" Christina screams and we file out. Will, Marlene, Zeke and Shauna head back to their apartments and Uriah, Christina, Tobias and I head to the tracks. The second we step out of the Dauntless Compound the bitter cold bites my skin. I think Tobias notices me shiver because he takes off his jacket and wraps it around me. I let the jacket drape over my shoulders and smile up to him. We wait by the tracks for the initiates.
"Four, how long?" Uriah asks and looks to the end of the tracks where the train will appear.
"Five minutes now."
Christina nudges my side, "you guys can get off first, you're going to need all the help you can get!"
I snicker, "oh, you're on!" It's Tobias and I against Christina and Uriah.
"Four minutes." Tobias mutters. I'm not cold anymore; Tobias' jacket has kept me warm. I slide the jacket off my shoulders and return it to him. He raises his eyebrows to me as if to ask 'you sure?' and I just smile in response.
"That'd be them," Christina says and I follow my eyes to where she's looking. Tobias throws his jacket to the side of the guns and then he too looks to the initiates.
"They're walking," I state the obvious and shake my head, "HURRY UP!"
Their speed raises and the front group run whereas the back group jog.
"Three minutes," Tobias whispers to the three of us. The initiates get to us seconds later.
There are two boxes to Uriah's side, one of paintballs and one of the guns. Uriah picks up one gun and passes it to Christina. She gives the gun to me and I hand it to Tobias. I turn back to Christina to see her standing there ready to hand me my gun. I take it, followed by two boxes of paintballs. Tobias takes one of my boxes and the four of us load our guns.
Christina speaks to the initiates first, "Everyone grab a gun and a set of paintballs." Tobias mumbles, "two minutes."
The Dauntless-Borns push through to get the guns first and the Transfers copy what they are doing. By the time everyone gets what they need Tobias turns to us and utters, "one minute." The three of us nod and turn around to face the tracks. Tobias was exactly right. In the distance I can see a train's light slowly getting bigger with each meter it takes towards us. I feel the familiar rumble of the tracks and begin sprinting alongside the rails.
"Everyone on the fifth car!" Uriah calls from behind me. I continue running and simultaneously begin to count the carriages. One, two, three -
An arm wraps around my waist and I'm lifted off the ground. Tobias grips the train handle with one arm and holds me with his other. I stay there, with him, and watch as the initiates jump into the train. The last initiate jumps in and Christina and Uriah follow with ease. Tobias lifts me up a little bit higher and I slide in the opening of the train. I watch as Tobias does too.
Christina, Uriah, Tobias and I stand in the opening of the train. We must look fierce standing over them with the imminent danger of what could await if we stumbled back. We must look Dauntless. I like it.
"We are about to divide into two teams to play capture the flag. Teams will consist of an even amount of Transfers, Dauntless-Borns and instructors." Instructor Four speaks over the train.
I add, "This is a Dauntless Tradition so I suggest you take it seriously." I notice Tobias turning towards me after I said it, he said that exact same thing to my initiate group last year. I don't make eye contact with him but I notice he turns back a second later.
Then Uriah calls out, "let's sort out the teams! Transfers first!"